


Adjustments

by Avirra



Series: An Unholy Alliance [12]
Category: Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies), Star Trek: Mirror Universe
Genre: Gen, Mirror Universe
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-07-21
Updated: 2013-07-21
Packaged: 2017-12-20 20:23:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,084
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/891463
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Avirra/pseuds/Avirra
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kirk leaves the Academy campus during a break, returning to find things have happened during his absence that will require him to rethink about his relationship with his roommate as well as role Pike intends to play in their future.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Adjustments

**Author's Note:**

> As a note, in my version of the Mirror-verse, the emphasis is on political maneuvering and manipulation rather than on violence and sex - though violence and sex are both certainly have their places (nothing overly graphic). Think in terms of more Machiavelli and less Caligula. Some cursing is also present.

After the incident with Lieutenant Commander Spock, time seemed to pass rapidly as everyone prepared for the battery of tests that were going to be given the week before the Academy was scheduled to shut down for a two week Winter Break. With every class doing the tests that would not only set their class ranking for their study track but would also determine whether or not the cadets could go to the next level, be forced to repeat or be relegated to the jobs in Starfleet with high mortality rates? Even Kirk had his head bent over his PADD.

During this period, Kirk discovered a new reason to appreciate a roommate with a talent for both medicine and chemistry. While McCoy didn't approve of chemical stimulants on a regular basis, he had experimented and developed a blend of naturally occurring stimulants, sugars and nutrients that was a close second in effectiveness with the added benefits of not showing up on drugs tests or making them too hyped/hung-over to get some sleep at night once it wore off.

The test results were posted the last day of classes and Kirk mused that if Spock hadn't already settled the cheating question, it would likely have come up then. In their shared classes, both were always in the top two, alternating between first and second. There were more than a few glares sent toward the pair as they stood, as usual by this point, side by side and looked over the scores. Kirk wasn't really paying much attention to the actual scores. He was impatient and chomping at the bit to get away from the campus during the break. He was also annoyed that he couldn't get his wingman to go with him. He tried one more time as they stood by the boards.

"Come on, Bones. You need this break as much, if not more, than I do. We won't go anywhere expensive, hell, there are places I know by beaches where all we'd have to worry about is food."

Turning away from the boards and basically ignoring everyone else around them, McCoy shook his head.

"I don't think you get it, Jim. It's not that I don't want to go with you. Hell, I'd love to get away for even a couple of days, but so long as they have me working at the hospital, that's not going to happen. I may be a full-fledged doctor, but being a cadet as well means that I'm low man on the totem pole. I'll be lucky to get off two whole days of the break and those two days aren't likely to be together. But if you see a bottle of the good stuff on your travels, feel free to bring one back. I'll need it by the end of this nonsense."

Kirk laughed at that as he headed off to change into his civvies and grab his bag. The weather was unseasonably warm, so once off the campus, he devoted his first week to a near equal division of beach and bedroom - occasionally combining the two even with the disturbing habit sand had of invading sensitive spots. The weather shifted near the start of the second week and after a brief debate, Kirk picked up a decent bottle of bourbon along with a bottle of Scotch before heading back to the Academy. He and McCoy could get a decent drunk on during one of his days off.

Whistling as he accessed the room, Kirk went silent almost immediately after entering. His immediate impression was that something was very wrong and he'd learned the hard way to never question his gut reaction to an area.

Easing his bag down, Kirk began a slow and careful examination of room. The more he looked, the more things were pinging on his feeling of wrongness. While not an absolute neat freak, McCoy did have very predictable patterns to his personal clutter. There were leftovers present that McCoy would have pitched into the recycler by this point, clothing that would have been sent through the refresher and study items that didn't appear to have been touched for several days. In fact, the room had a deserted feel to it. Standing in the center of the room after his examination, Kirk reached for the room's comm-unit.

"Cadet Kirk. I would like to speak to Captain Pike."

He waited patiently and was finally rewarded with the sound of Pike's voice. Kirk didn't waste time getting to the point.

"Captain Pike, do you know where Doctor McCoy is?"

"I do. I've been expected your call since I was informed you'd arrived back on campus. Leonard is at the hospital."

Scowling, Kirk growled back. Part of it was knowing that Pike was keeping tabs on where he was, but most of it was directed at the Medical department.

"What's the deal? They aren't even letting him come back to his own bed to sleep?"

There was a pause that immediately gave Kirk a bad feeling. When he took into account that Pike didn't tend to mince words, that feeling multiplied.

"James, Leonard isn't at hospital in his capacity as a doctor. He's been admitted as a patient. Meet me there in ten minutes and I'll tell you what I know."

Kirk was there in five minutes. He was already in McCoy's room by the time Pike arrived. He could barely recognize his roommate's bruised and battered body. A deep burning need to hurt someone that he hadn't felt since leaving Tarsus took Kirk off-guard. Now wasn't the time to wonder about that though.

Grabbing the PADD from the end of the biobed, Kirk started typing on the screen. Hacking past the password that was supposed to lock out everyone but authorized personnel took him less than a minute. His expression darkened as he began to read. Five days ago. If even a semi-competent doctor - hell, if a semi-competent nurse - had been taking care of McCoy for that period of time, he shouldn't still look this bad.

A soft cough from the doorway drew his attention and Pike was standing there, a slight look of amusement on his face as he looked to the PADD in Kirk's hand.

"Couldn't wait for his doctor to come, James?"

"Why? Whoever it is can't be much of a doctor if Bones is still in this condition after five damn days."

The use of the nickname was noted, but not commented on as Pike continued to speak in a casual tone.

"I don't know for certain, of course, but I get the feeling there's a divide among the doctors as to whether Leonard surviving or not is in their best interests. No telling which of them might have been behind his scheduling. After all, Leonard doesn't only have his own rivals to contend with anymore. He has all of yours as well."

Eyes resting back on his roommate's still form, Kirk felt that burning sensation growing more intense. Things weren't adding up in his head.

"I don't get it. Bones has a healthy sense of paranoia. He takes precautions."

"He did take precautions. As the saying goes, you should see the other guys. Leonard killed one of his attackers and left another in critical condition before he went down. Unfortunately, there were more than just two attackers involved. Exactly how many is still being investigated."

The fists Kirk made were so tight that his knuckles were white, but his voice was icy calm when he spoke.

"What happened?"

"The hospital scheduled him for two full shifts only four hours apart. They said it was a scheduling error, but that no-one else was available to come in on short notice, so Leonard ended up working both. As best as we know, he was leaving after the end of the second shift to get something to eat when the attack happened."

"As best you know?"

"There weren't any functional surveillance devices in the area where the attack occurred and Leonard hasn't been able to answer any questions yet."

Pike stopped speaking and finally Kirk looked up at the officer. The glimmer of hatred aimed at him was not something Pike expected to see. He knew that it wasn't his imagination when the hatred also laced Kirk's next words.

"Why are you content to just let him rot here? You recruited him - you recruited me. You're like the others - all talk, aren't you? You didn't want us specifically. You could care less about my brain or his skills. You just wanted enough bodies to meet some damn quota."

Pike held up a hand to cut off Kirk's rant just before Kirk told him, in no uncertain terms, just where he could stick his quota. Pike suddenly saw just how thin the ice was that he was walking on with Kirk - the paranoia the cadet was exhibiting was perfectly valid given the evidence. Handling Kirk wrong now would quite probably mean losing any chance of maintaining control over him.  Probably forever.

"No. You're wrong there, James. I want both of you in Starfleet - I want what both of you can offer and I prefer the two of you together now that I've seen you that way. The two of you make a formidable team."

"Then why are you allowing them to treat Bones like a charity case off the streets? We both joined - we're both near the top of our classes. What the hell else do you want, old man?"

The expression on Pike's face hardened. He really didn't want to be having this talk with Kirk yet. He hadn't planned on having it until Kirk was in his third year and firmly on the path to graduation. Damn those idiots. They attacked McCoy at possibly the worst possible time for Pike's plans. There was no use continuing to curse them however. He would have to play with the cards as they were dealt now.

"Do you think my recruiting the two of you was coincidence?"

The blue eyes immediately went cold and guarded.

"Not really."

"You've been a bit of a hobby of mine for some time, James. Your roommate became a hobby of Doctor Puri's after Leonard attracted his attention during a lecture tour. As you are aware, Puri is both my personal doctor as well as the man slated to be my CMO on the Enterprise. I try to keep him happy, so when he requested that I get him a toy, how could I refuse?"

Kirk moved slightly closer to McCoy and Pike felt a smile forming. Protective - or at least possessive. Good.

"So what? We're just something for you guys to mess around with when you're bored?"

"That might be part of it, but hardly all of it."

"I'm listening, old man."

Pike let out a chuckle.

"You're fortunate that I don't mind a bit of sass from my command crew."

That comment drew Kirk's eyes up from McCoy. When he remained silent, Pike continued.

"As you have likely heard, I'll be captaining the Enterprise when she leaves Earth and I intend to have a crew that will write her name in the history books. I plan for you and Leonard to be a part of that crew, James."

A smirk formed on Pike's face at Kirk's disbelieving expression.

"Still just words, right? I'll make the initial show of good faith. Doctor Puri is already slated to be my CMO. He's one of the ones that recognizes Leonard's brilliance and, unlike most others, he isn't squeamish about having someone that talented underneath him. If you want, I'll tell Puri to assign himself to Leonard's case now."

This was it. The situation Kirk had warned himself about time and time again. His eyes went back to and lingered on McCoy. Their partnership was working. Working damn well. But was he using McCoy as a crutch? Had his alliance with his roommate become a weakness he couldn't afford?

Pike seemed to be reading his thoughts. Or perhaps he'd been similar to Kirk during his own days at the Academy.

"You want to be a Captain of your own ship one day, don't you? Well, you can't run her by yourself, no matter how good you are. You'll need a core group - even if it's only one or two men that you can depend on to keep their word - at least where you are concerned. In Leonard, you have one man that you've already proven to yourself. Why restart from scratch when you don't have to? He'll be learning underneath Puri and by the time you're ready for Captain, he'll be ready for CMO."

"And what will Doctor Puri's assistance cost me? Or him?"

That got a laugh from Pike.

"This time? Nothing. This is that show of good faith I mentioned. Believe me when I say that the price of any future favor will be far steeper."

The blue eyes remained on Pike for a moment longer, then flickered back down to McCoy.

"Then do it. Please, sir."

A look of satisfaction formed on Pike's face that gave Kirk a bit of a queasy feeling. He felt like he'd just put something into motion that he wasn't sure could be stopped again. As he took a seat by McCoy's bedside, he watched Pike pull out a personal communicator.

"Since we've reached an accord, I suppose the next thing to do is to get Doctor McCoy healed up so that the two of you get back to the business at hand. Raj? Come in. I have a patient for you."

Kirk frowned slightly at how fast Doctor Puri appeared. Was Pike that sure Kirk would ask him to help McCoy? He gave his head a rueful shake. Yeah, obviously he had been sure.

"I know the two of you have seen each other before, but I don't recall you being introduced. Cadet James Kirk, meet Doctor Rajinder Puri. I'm sure you'll get to know him well during your time on the Enterprise."

He couldn't hold in the question any longer even though he wasn't sure he wanted the answer.

"What makes you so sure Bones and I will be assigned to the Enterprise?"

A chuckle came out as Pike went to one of the room's chairs and made himself comfortable.

"I rarely fail in getting what I want, James. Keep that in mind."

After that, a silence fell as Puri concentrated his efforts on McCoy.

"You should have called me in on this sooner, Chris. You told me he'd been beaten, but I didn't think it was to this degree."

That got Kirk's immediate attention.

"What do you mean? He'll be alright, won't he?"

Pike looked bemused as Puri shifted his gaze to the young cadet and seemed to debate briefly whether or not to address Kirk's question before he finally spoke.

"He'll be fine. He'll end up with a few permanent scars, but I can fix what's broken. I can probably have him more or less back on his feet in a few hours."

Pulling out a hypospray, Puri applied it to McCoy. Kirk hadn't noticed how tense McCoy's body had been until it relaxed. Puri saw the unspoken question on Kirk's face and answered that as well.

"Yes, he was in a considerable amount of pain, but what I just gave him should allow him to rest while I take care of the worst of his injuries. I'm going to need the two of you to head out now so I can get started. Chris? Send in Nurse Scyber."

"Will do, Raj. Come along, James. Let the man work."

Pike paused only long enough to send the nurse in to Puri, then he continued on his way, herding Kirk outside. Kirk only half-noticed - his mind was still preoccupied with trying to figure out when it was that he had started genuinely giving a shit whether McCoy died or not. Another dry chuckle from Pike pulled him back to the present.

"Your world hasn't ended, James. It hasn't even changed for the worse. Doctor Puri had planned to wait until after Leonard finished his first year to formally become his patron, but considering the current problems, he'll be moving that up."

"No."

The one word was said firmly, but so quietly that for a moment, Pike wasn't sure that he had heard Kirk correctly.

"No?"

The blue eyes practically had lightning flashing in them.

"If Doctor Puri steps in now, it makes Bones look valuable, but weak. You might as well paint a target on him."

That smile of Pike formed again.

"And how would you want to see it handled?"

Kirk's voice was low and intense.

"Once Bones is back on his feet, give the two of us a little time to track down and take care of the ones that attacked him. Let people think Puri is claiming a spot as his mentor because he recognizes McCoy is a dangerous bastard that he wants for his team or at least wants to have where he can keep an eye on him."

There was a moment or two of silence before Pike began to laugh, clapped Kirk on his shoulder.

"You see, thinking like that is why I want you on my command team, James. Is there going to be anything left of the attackers to be dealt with afterward?"

"No, sir."

"Good. I dislike loose ends. My only stipulation is that you make sure you only target the ones behind the attack."

Kirk chose his next words very carefully.

"Of course, Captain Pike. Going after anyone else would dilute the effect that we're after."

Still chuckling, Pike cast a glance over his shoulder back toward the hospital.

"If we go back before giving Raj at least a solid hour of uninterrupted work, we'll both need some dermatology work done on our asses. Come along, James. We'll have a longer talk about your future prospects over a drink. Your quarters. I can make that look like a surprise inspection."

Kirk simply nodded and remained quiet as the two of them began the walk to the dormitories. He and Bones were going to be on the biggest, baddest, newest Imperial Starship - that was higher than Kirk had dared to hope for. Then he thought back to that conversation he and Bones had back when they were first working things out. Sure, Pike may be in control now, but really? Pike was in for way more than he bargained for.


End file.
